


Connecting

by stellarmeadow



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-02 02:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15786945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: Coda for 1.13





	Connecting

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to jumpstart my muse and went back to the 100+ first times series, wrote a coda for 113, only to realize I'd already done one. So you get a bonus coda. :)

Danny pulled into the space next to Steve’s truck. He killed the engine on the Camaro and got out, pausing only long enough to figure out that the truck had been there for a while before heading into HQ.

Steve was hunched over the computer table, his back a stiff line of muscle that indicated either he’d been there a while, or he wasn’t happy about things. 

Then again, considering everything that had happened, probably both. 

"Hey,” Danny said as he approached. “Where you been? I called you on your cell."

"I had to drop Mary off, then I lost track of time."

Or wanted to lick his wounds in private. "I'm sorry about that, man."

"You gotta give her credit,” Steve said, still looking at the computer table. “I mean, she was onto something. All this stuff in my father's toolbox. It's not just about my mom's case. There's a bunch of stuff that's much more current. Like the investigation he was involved in before Hesse killed him. We've got a bunch of leads to follow up on."

"Yeah, well, there's something we don't have to follow up on, though."

"What?" 

"Hiro's brother, Koji, was found dead an hour ago."

It was hard to tell if the news was satisfying, given that Koji was responsible for Steve’s mom’s death, or upsetting, given that they’d lost their best lead of what was behind it. "How?" Steve asked at last.

"Car accident,” Danny said. “You believe that?" 

Steve didn’t have to answer; his face spoke volumes. But after a second he said, "No."

“Yeah, me neither,” Danny said. He looked down at the table, the picture of the car where Steve’s mother died glaring up at them. “We’re not going to figure it out tonight,” Danny said, swiping the pictures away. “Have you eaten?”

Steve glanced up from the now empty screen. “Huh?”

“Dinner. Food. Something normal humans need to survive.”

“Oh, I, uh…no.”

“Come on,” Danny said, hand on Steve’s bicep. “Let’s go get some food.”

Steve headed for the door, Danny’s guiding hand still in place. “Okay,” Steve said, as they reached the doors to their offices, “but can we skip the restaurant? I’m not really in a public mood.”

“You want take out?” 

“I have stuff at home,” Steve said. “Let’s go there.” 

***

‘Stuff’ turned out to be some thick, juicy steaks that had Danny’s mouth watering just watching Steve put them on the grill. Of course, Steve himself might have a little to do with Danny’s mouth watering, a completely unhelpful thought he quickly pushed aside. 

Steve’s shoulders were stiff, that tension he’d been carrying all night as stubborn as everything about the man, refusing to go away, despite the beer. Not that Danny could blame him—he’d had to pack his sister off to the mainland. Danny had some feeling what it was like, having to leave family behind. 

“You know,” Danny paused to clear his throat, “when I left Jersey to come out here, it was rough.”

Steve glanced over his shoulder. “Yeah, you’ve gone on at length about how much you miss the pizza.”

Danny huffed a quiet laugh. “Yeah, that definitely was tough,” he said, but he wasn’t about to be deterred. “But the hardest part was leaving my family behind. Even though Grace was here and that was the most important thing…leaving my family was hard. No matter how good the reason, it’s never easy.”

Steve put the steaks on plates and brought them over to the table with one hand, his beer in the other. “I’m used to not having family around,” Steve said, as he sat down. “Mary and me, we’ve never been close—well, not since we were kids. I don’t know anything else.”

He took a long drink. “But it was nice,” he said, after a moment. “Having her around. Getting to know each other again.” His lips thinned, and he took another drink before he added, “Until I had to do exactly what dad did and send her away to keep her safe.”

Shit. Danny should’ve seen that one a mile away, and maybe if he hadn’t been so caught up in how to help, he would have. It was tougher to see the hard facts when you were so close to things. “Steve….”

Steve waved a hand. “It is what it is,” he said, cutting his steak. “So anyway, explain to me again why you think hockey is better than football?”

After a moment, Danny gave in and started talking about the beauty of hockey.

***

Danny woke up, looking around, his brain taking a moment to remember where he was. Right, Steve’s. He’d passed out on the couch after dinner and quite a few beers, the TV almost enough to drown out the waves. 

But neither the TV nor the waves had woken him.

He sat up, looking through the dining room and out to the beach behind the house. He could just make out the silhouette of Steve standing down by the shore, looking out at the ocean. 

Danny scrubbed a hand over his face and got up, padding barefoot through the house and out the door. Steve’s shoulders still had that same tension, a sure sign that likely hadn’t slept, despite the alcohol. 

“If you’re thinking about trying to drown yourself so I’ll prove I can swim,” Danny said, as he reached Steve’s side, “please don’t.”

He saw the corner of Steve’s mouth lift. “I don’t know,” Steve said. “Might be worth it.”

After a moment, Danny touched Steve’s arm. “What’s with the ocean gazing?”

Steve took a long breath. “For a long time,” Steve said, slowly, as if he was having to look for the right words, “the ocean was the only thing that made sense. People didn’t. Motives, behavior—it just…it didn’t make sense. But the ocean…that was simple. It never changed, and it never left.

“A lot of guys went stir crazy on a six-month tour on a sub, but not me. It felt…safe. We were in the ocean—what could go wrong? The ocean was home in a way nothing else could be. But now…trying to reconnect with Mary, with the island, trying to connect with….” 

He looked at Danny, eyes moving over Danny’s face like he was searching for something. A moment later he leaned in, and Danny followed suit, until their lips met.

The first kiss was tentative, but when Danny wrapped his arms around Steve’s back, Steve threw tentative out the window, deepening the kiss, his hands roaming down Danny’s back to grip his ass and pull him even closer. 

The hardness poking Danny in the stomach was almost as overwhelming as the kiss. He hadn’t expected any of this. Then again, maybe he had on some level. Maybe that had been why he had stared a little too long, touched a little too much. 

Because he’d known somewhere deep down that he wasn’t alone in this.

“Upstairs,” Steve muttered against Danny’s mouth in between kisses. “We need…bed…upstairs.”

Danny pulled back with difficulty, licking the taste of Steve off his lips as he met Steve’s gaze. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah,” Steve said instantly. “Yeah, I mean…unless…if you’re not sure….”

“I’m sure,” Danny said quietly. “But today was…it was a lot. I wanted to be sure you really wanted…this.”

Steve smiled, the first real smile Danny had seen since everything had gone to hell. “Danny,” he said softly, “I’ve wanted this for a lot longer than today.” 

Danny grabbed Steve’s hand and started toward the house. “Then upstairs it is.”

\--  
END


End file.
